follow the leader
by le petit soleil
Summary: i will wait forever if i have to. —neville/luna


**disclaimer: **Harry Potter & his buddies belong to J.K. Rowling.  
><strong>dedication: <strong>To…nargles? Yeah. Nargles.  
><strong>note: <strong>I tolerate a lot of Harry Potter pairings, but, like in all the other fandoms, there are certain ones I prefer more than others.

…

"You're leaving."

Luna smiled, and even in his despair Neville noticed that it did not reach her eyes, nor was it dreamy like the ones he liked to see. It was sad and it was remorseful and it was a smile that never should have made its way across Luna Lovegood's face.

But it did, and his attention was brought back to the fact that _this was so wrong. _She wasn't supposed to go. Not after everything they'd been through.

"Yes, I'm leaving," Luna said carefully, her pale blue eyes trained on Neville's face. At that moment she truly realized that this was not what he needed—for Merlin's sake, he was _Neville Longbottom_. His parents were tortured, his grandmother murdered, and his innocence stripped away only a year before by those snakes in dark cloaks. He was _Neville Longbottom_, the man she loved.

He did not deserve this.

"Why?" he asked, trying to keep his voice intact. But the words were hollow in the air and Luna flinched, noticing how torn he sounded.

Neville did not deserve this.

"Well, now that we've graduated, I've decided to pursue a career in magizoology," she answered, turning back to her suitcase. "I'm going to travel."

"I see," Neville replied, and Luna was almost afraid to turn around because she knew, _she knew_, that if she saw how broken he looked she would never be able to leave.

"Aren't you going to ask me to stay, Neville?" Luna asked, her voice musical and whimsical just like it always was. But he knew that she was just as broken as him. Her choice was tearing her apart from the inside.

"I'd be selfish to ask that from you, Luna," Neville murmured.

"And I'd be selfish to ask you to wait for me," Luna whispered, clutching one of her blouses with trembling hands.

"I'm going to wait for you," Neville said slowly.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone. I don't want you to wait."

"I will wait forever if I have to."

"Don't!" Luna spun around, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes. "Don't wait for me, Neville. When I'm gone I want you to find a pretty girl with a good heart and I want you to be happy. I want you to find your happiness, even when it's not with me."

The sight of her was almost too much, and without a thought he captured her in a tight hug. "But the girl won't be able to see Nargles, I'm sure of it," he muttered into her hair.

Luna grasped his shirt and nearly laughed. "It's alright if she can't see Nargles," she breathed. "You'll love her anyway. More than you love me."

"Never," Neville said fiercely. "I'll never love anyone more than you."

Luna pulled back and smiled up at him. "Likewise, Neville. But I'm afraid I must go now." She turned back to the bed and folded the last of her clothes before shutting the suitcase.

"Find someone, Luna. Find a nice guy who can make you laugh and make you feel as if you were the most important woman in the world," Neville murmured quietly.

Luna pulled her suitcase off the bed. "I will. And find that girl, will you?" As she passed by him, she pressed a small velvet pouch into his hand. "Keep these safe, okay? I'll miss you." And she pressed a lingering kiss onto his cheek and walked out the door, her blonde hair floating behind her.

Neville stared at the door, and then at the pouch in his hand. With a sigh, he opened the pouch and dumped the contents on the bed.

"Spectrespecs, radish earrings, and the first edition of the Quibbler," Neville chuckled to himself. "How eccentric."

…

**footnote: **And then this leads up to Neville & Hannah's marriage and Luna & Rolf's marriage. But I seriously love Neville & Luna, and I was looking forward to it in the epilogue. But it didn't happen…dammit.  
><strong>footnote1: <strong>I love how Luna's not afraid to be herself. Hooray for independence! R&R?


End file.
